The Bookwoman's Last Fling
John Dunning
Scribner, May 2006, $25.00, 352 pp.
ISBN: 0743289450

Former homicide police detective Cliff Janeway, now a bookstore owner is always on the lookout for a rare and precious book. Junior Willis asks Cliff to authenticate and appraise the book collection of the late Harold Ray Geiger; Cliff leaps at the chance because he wants to see first hand the collection. When he does he notices that later editions were substituted for rare books and that his client has only half the collection as Geiger's daughter Sharon owns the rest. Cliff is in heaven when he gets to see what she possesses.

Sharon hires Cliff to find the missing books and to learn if her mother's death, though years ago, caused by an allergic reaction to eating peanuts, was suicide, accident or murder. He follows clues that return him to Geiger's house and ultimately the horse racing world. Someone observes Cliff's efforts and decides the bookworm is getting too close to the truth so tries to close the book on him by killing him. Wary but not deterred, Cliff keeps investigating as he now knows a homicide perhaps two occurred and he has a suspect but lacks evidence.

Bibliophiles and racing fans will be euphoric with Cliff Janeway's latest caper. Dick Francis fans will thoroughly enjoy THE BOOKWOMAN'S LAST FLING especially for the behind the scenes look at what goes on at a horse racing track. Cliff is at his best evaluating books, but by the tale's end the audience will know he misses police work as he gleefully follows the clues in the case even when his life is at risk and upsets his significant other who already is disturbed that he is a "murder magnet".

Harriet Klausner